Across the Fence
by Bob the Turtle
Summary: He did not know how he got here, he did not know what happened to the rest of his team. But he's alive and he should be grateful for that. But now he's further away from home than he ever thought possible (UNDER TOTAL REWRITE).
1. Chapter 1: Across the Fence

Command and Control: MACV-SOG  
Area of Operations: Cambodia  
Codename: DANIEL BOONE  
Date:  
[REDACTED]/[REDACTED]/1967  
Launch Site: [REDACTED]  
Insertion aircraft: US piloted UH-1 Iroquois, [REDACTED] Battalion  
Lead ship: 1-0 (US team leader), 1-1 (Assistant team leader) and 0-1 (Vietnamese Team Leader)  
Second ship: 1-2 (3rd American), 0-2 (Interpreter) and 0-3 (Point Man).  
Third ship: Backup.  
Mission: Bright Light-rescue of downed US aircrews and US POW

Chapter 1: Across the Fence  
_

The Cambodian jungle, beautiful and majestic. Filled to the brim with all sorts of natural wonders. The squawking of rare jungle birds fills the jungle with their melodic cries as it intermingles with the hooting of monkeys swinging from vine to vine. Trees as tall as a ten-story building reach up into the skies, its branches and leaves blocking the sun's rays shading the ground below it.

But this verdant green jungle paradise hides a secret. Deep in the jungles there is a war, a secret war, being waged.

Suddenly the peaceful jungle was invaded by a cacophony of sound. The sound of whirling helicopter blades fills the air as 3 UH-1 Huey helicopters fly past. The birds silenced, the monkeys cease, and the jungle pause. The war has come.

The year is 1967, the war in Vietnam is in full swing and while Cambodia is officially neutral to the conflict the reality is the opposite. The ruling monarchy of Cambodia had feared that the US intervention in the conflict would lead to his overthrowing and had a struck a deal with the communist forces of North Vietnam, allowing them to operate secretly within their borders in what is known as the Ho Chi Minh trail; a vast network of camouflaged roads and trails stretching from North Vietnam into "neutral" Cambodia, Laos and straight into South Vietnam.

But now the tide has turned, the monarch now fears that he had made a deal with the Devil as communist forces began to obtain more and more power within his own country and the risk of Cambodia being dragged into the Vietnam War becomes closer and closer each passing day. Seeking to maintain his power the prince contacted the US diplomat, Chester Bowles and made a proposition; in exchange for restoring bilateral ties with the US, he will turn a blind eye towards any US force entering Cambodia to attack retreating communist troops provided that no Cambodians were hurt.

Whether the prince knew it or not the US had long been operating inside the country. Clandestine warriors have been sent into Cambodia the country for years now; gathering intelligence, performing sabotage and even assassinations and kidnappings of communist forces operating within the country.

These clandestine warriors were called MACV-SOG. Also known as the Military Assistance Command-Studies and Observation Group or simply SOG. This highly classified multi-service special operations force is tasked with performing covert missions into North Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Inserted either via land, air or by sea (usually in the form of small teams called Spike Teams) they are tasked with performing intelligence gathering missions, interdiction as well as Bright Light missions to rescue downed US airmen as well as POWs.

Corporal Alan "Skids" Purse stared down on the rushing jungle canopy below as they flew over it. His mouth was bent into a frown. He rode on the second 'ship' with the Vietnamese troopers or Yards as they were called and was the only American on it except the aircrew while the 1-0, 1-1 and 0-1 rode on the lead ship. He's not bothered by it of course. Each Vietnamese on-board the ship was as experienced as their American counterpart and after serving alongside them for so long he has learned to respect them as his fellow brothers-in-arms and in turn, so have they.

What bothered him however was their mission. It was a Bright Light, but not to rescue some down aviator but one of their own.

Nearly two days ago another Spike Team was sent into the jungle to conduct a recon mission. The team, consisting of 3 Americans and 9 Vietnamese, had landed on their LZ and the helicopters left soon after receiving the "Team OK" signal. After that they failed to contact the command aircraft at the allotted time. When the very next day came and they still failed to contact command that's when the Bright Light came out.

Alan knew the men of that team. They were battle-hardened, experienced and tough as nails. What the hell could have happened to them?

A pit of doubt filled his heart. He glances over to the CAR-15 laying on his thighs. They've brought with them extra ammo and grenades, a couple chopped down M79 grenade launchers and even a couple M72 LAWs as well. Alan himself carried 4 grenades, a couple mini-grenades and about 32 twenty-round magazines for his CAR-15. Nearly everyone in the chopper carried extra ammo and grenades.

They brought with them a lot of firepower, but would it be enough?

Alan continued to glance around the chopper. The Yards were either making small talk amongst one another or staring down into the jungle below like he was just moments ago. Every one of them were just as experienced as their American counterparts. Each man wore and used the same equipment as their American counterparts, sans identifying markers like patches and dog tags of course. Except for one man.

The 0-3, a short statured Vietnamese sergeant named Bao, was their point man. Unlike everyone else he wore the uniform of an NVA soldier and was armed with a Chinese AK. The only thing that denoted him as being part of their ST was the cravat that he wore on his head. Even then it wasn't unheard of for NVA soldiers to don such things as the cloth soaked up sweat better than any NVA pith helmet could.

The uniform and AK had proven itself quite the useful asset. Often time when the point man made contact the enemy hesitated firing at what looked like their own man only to get blasted by a wall of lead.

The NVA uniform however made Alan nervous, not because wearing it violated the Geneva Convention. They've long went past that line a long time ago. No, what bothered him was that the uniform reminded him of a nasty rumor. That the NVA had started using hunter-killer sapper teams to hunt down SOG operators infiltrating Cambodia and Laos. Some of those rumors even suggested that these guys have been successful in killing SOG operators.

Sergeant Bao noticed the American's troubled gaze and raised a brow. He curtly nodded at the American and, in his language, he asked the what the problem was. Alan to his credit had learnt a bit of Vietnamese. Not enough to be fluent in it but just enough to speak simple sentences and understand the gist of things.

The American shook his head. "No trouble," said Alan in Vietnamese "just nervous". Sergeant Bao nodded in understanding. Everybody was on edge. They have no idea what happened to their missing ST and they could very well be flying straight into a trap.

Alan glanced back down on to the jungle below. Somewhere down there was their missing Spike Team…or what's left of it at least. They've been briefed before the mission that the AO they were heading into had a regiment size force operating there. In fact, this was the very reason why the ST was sent there in the first place. To recon and find out more about this regiment and its true strength.

"Well, we'll find out soon enough." Thought Alan grimly. "We should have brought more guys though. Maybe a Hatchet Force or Slam Company. God knows how many of those damn commies are down there and we'd be able to cover more ground."

Of course, if they could they would. But his team was the only one active and in full strength. The rest were either recuperating their losses, on leave or already on missions on some other AO.

Alan lifted his glove to reveal a Seiko brand watch hiding under it. Originally the SOG teams had requested Rolex watches but it seems that Command had other ideas. Despite the initial grumbling of being cheapened out by Command the teams had grown to love their Japanese watches. They were reliable, waterproof and well made. It was even self-winding and had a luminescent clock face. It was a bit too bright though but that's why it was under the glove in the first place.

Checking the time, he realized that they had only 10 minutes before they arrive at their LZ. Whatever doubts he had mulling about in his head quickly dissipated. It was time to earn their pay.

After covering the watch back up again Alan signaled to the Yards to make a last-minute equipment check. Alan checked over his pouches and his most valuable piece of equipment; the PRC-25 manpack radio or as they like to call it the Prick. It was their only line of communications to the outside world as well as their only method of requesting fire support.

As the 1-2 or radio operator he was responsible for maintaining as well as operating the Prick. That made him a prime target for any NVA sniper wanting to cut the only lifeline between the SOGs and their air support.

Soon enough the choppers reach their destination. Two of the helicopters, the lead and second ship, descended on to the LZ while the third ship with its empty passenger seats hover above the LZ, ready to pick up the team if things go awry.

All the while the door gunners on each helicopter eyed the tree line warily. Their M-60 machine guns lock loaded and ready to unleash hell on any hostiles that dare to make themselves visible.

Alan felt himself tense-up as he held his CAR-15 at the ready. It wasn't his first rodeo and previous missions had thought him that complacency kills, and you should always keep your head on a swivel.

He looks around and notices that the Yards were tensing up as well, their weapons at the ready and their bodies ready to jump out of the chopper as soon as the bird lands. "Good," thought Alan, "Everyone is on their A-game."

When the choppers finally landed the men quickly exited out of their ships with practiced cadence. When the last man on the chopper finally jumps out the aviators quickly brought their ships back into altitude. They have no intention of overstaying their welcome. The longer they were there the higher the chance of them being detected.

As soon as he left the chopper Alan quickly activated his radio and removed the handset out of its pouch. He switched the frequency over to the chopper's radio and gave them the Team OK.

"Red Bird, this is Cardinal-6. Insertion OK. We are entering the jungle now, over"

"Cardinal-6, this is Red Bird. Roger that. Give our regards to Charlie, over"

"Will do, Red Bird. Cardinal-6 out."

Placing the handset back into its place he turned off the radio and tucked the flexible "short" antennae under his arm and into his belt. It was an old trick he had learned from another SOG team radio operator a few years back as a way of concealing the fact that he was a radio man from the enemy

After making sure all was in the right place he quickly made his way to the rest of the team. Upon sighting the young corporal their 1-0, Staff Sergeant Henschel, nodded and gave Alan his order.

"Alright, switch over to the Covey's frequency. Let's go find us our missing spike team."

* * *

Well, this is my very first fiction so tell me what you think and give me your constructive criticism. English isn't my first language so keep that in mind I guess. Reason for writing this fic was due to how there seem to be rather few fics doing anything with that Vietnam War soldier that appeared (and died) in that episode where Osmond tells Saito how the "Staff of Destruction" came to be.

P.S: Decided to update this chapter as I wasn't satisfied with its current state. Sorry for the wait, currently busy with private matters at the moment but next chapter will come.


	2. Chapter 2: Prairie Fire

Once the team was on the ground they quickly went to work. Time was of the essence. While not receiving contact the very moment they touched down was a nice change in pace it was only a matter of time before they were found out. Their air assets weren't going to be on standby forever either.

They started by searching the LZ of any clues as that was the last time ST Rose had been seen. It wasn't an easy task as the LZ was quite large; easily the size of a football field if slightly larger; and was covered in tall, sharp grass that made searching difficult. Parasites of all kinds also made their home there in the tall grass. Everything from ticks to biting flies, mosquitoes to leeches. Worse however were the various kind of diseases they carry.

The leech, in Alan's opinion, was the one creature he hated the most. A creature most vile that deserves the hate and scorn from all of humanity. The damn things would crawl up his legs and into his pants before biting on to his unmentionables. That was always unpleasant. He felt something wriggling up his arm. It was another leech.

"Fucking leeches," cursed Alan before he flicked the parasite off of his arm.

It took them nearly an hour of searching before they finally found something. It was a trail of grass that lead into the jungle. The trail looked new, not a day or two old according to Bao's estimates. As they examined the trail of grass they found a boot print barely imprinted on to the ground. They realized that the print matched with the kind of jungle boot worn by US Special Forces.

Fiddling with the knobs on his radio Alan set the frequency to their Covey's radio frequency. Covey was the codename for the Forward Air Controller or FAC. Tasked with guiding airstrikes and other ordnances, their "birds eye view" of the AO also allows them to act as a sort of on-scene commander. With commo being made with the Covey Alan handed the PRC-25's handset over to his 1-0.

Henschel gave the Covey his report, informing the what they had found. He also told the Covey of their plan to follow the trail and hopefully locate ST Rose. After a bit of back and forth the Covey finally gave them the go ahead.

Due to the constraints of the terrain, they formed a line with their point man Bao leading the front. Behind him was Henschel, Alan and the Vietnamese team leader, Tho, followed by Lang and the 1-1, 3rd Sergeant Dornan Wick. Slowly, they entered the brush.

As they went deeper into the jungle it started to get darker due to the jungle canopy above. The deeper they went the thicker the canopy was. ST Knights heads were on a constant swivel, always looking out for anything out of place. Alan swore he saw something moving through the shadows at the corner of his eye but whenever he turns to look there was nothing there. The feeling of being watched wasn't just on him either. Everyone felt it and it only made them more cautious and paranoid. As they followed the trail they started to find some more signs of the missing ST like deliberately broken branches and the barest of boot imprints on the ground. It wasn't much but it was enough to make them keep going.

A snap of a twig caused the whole team to pause in their track. It sounded like it came from their left. They listen in on the sound, the jungle eerily quiet. They heard the rustle of dried leaves being stepped on as whatever it was came closer and closer to their position. The team aimed their collective firepower at the brush.

The brush rustled before a small four-legged creature popped out of it. The team lowered their weapons, the tension leaving their bodies. Alan was surprised, he did not expect that. He examined the thing as it sniffed at the air and looked around itself. He noticed that it sort of looked like a deer, although he had never seen one so small before. It seemed to have noticed the six SF men because it soon bolted right back into the jungle.

"Mousedeer," said Bao as the deer bolted out of sight. So that what it was, thought Alan. Mousedeer was right, the damn thing was barely the size of his uncle's pet mongrel back home. It was definitely no deer he'd seen before back at the states either. Apparently, they were quite shy as Bao explained and they were also a rare sight because of it. Alan can't help but feel a bit silly. Six heavily armed special forces men, the craziest SOBs of the whole US Army and ARVN who went through the toughest hell for training their armies have to offer, getting spooked by Bambi's little cousin.

With the deer gone, Heschel motioned for the team to get moving. As the team started continued following the trail again, their point-man failed to notice late his leg had caught on a wire and as moved his feet forward he pulled the pin of the grenade that the wire was attached to.

Bao was sent flying to the side by the sheer force of the explosion; fragmentation ripping him apart. Bao hit back first into a tree before sliding down to the ground, bloody and motionless. The sound of automatic gunfire fills the air as the enemy, camouflaged NVA infantry, open fire at the surprised spike team.

"Ambush!" Henschel shouted. The remaining ST Knight team members-though shocked and caught unawares-immediately returned fire with fully automatic CAR-15 fire. The enemy had them completely surrounded as they could see muzzle flashes on all sides. Alan slams another fresh mag into his CAR-15 before hitting the forward assist, sending the bolt forward and stripping a fresh round off of the 20-round mag. He aimed down his sights and opened fire, shooting them one after the other. Henschel took out his chopped down M-79 grenade launcher off of its holster and fired off a couple of 40mm grenade rounds into the jungle. Dornan followed suit and fired off several grenades with his own chopped down M-79. Explosions filled the air as both men fired off round after round of 40mm. The NVA was briefly overwhelmed by the barrage of grenades as dozens of them were killed or wounded. As the smoke cleared, the jungle became silent once more.

They've broken off the attack, for now at least.

The moaning and groaning of the wounded replaced the silence. Henschel checked Bao's still form. The man's body was covered in deep wounds and he was missing his left foot; his pant legs were ripped to shreds and partially burnt from the explosion. He cursed when he found no pulse and declared that Bao was dead. Tho, the Vietnamese team leader, had also been injured during the firefight; both his legs were shattered after an enemy bullet smashed right through them. The surviving and able members of ST Knights tended to their wounded as best as they can while Alan took the opportunity to tell their Covey of the unfortunate turn of events.

Luckily for them, Covey was still airborne. Alan reported that he had one KIA and two WIA and was surrounded by NVA. Covey told them to pull back towards the LZ.

They were interrupted by a bullet zipping past Alan's head, barely missing it by a few inches. The radioman let out a surprised yelp before falling on to his back. Alan cursed as more bullets started flying past them and the fighting resumed. A force of over a hundred NVA had appeared and were now firing on the spike team. They had come to reinforce the decimated initial ambush unit. The NVA formed ranks as they fired at the spike team with automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenades.

Another team member was injured. Dornan screamed as hot metal fragments from an enemy grenade tore off parts of his face. The NVA began to taunt at the spike team and even began shouting demands for them to surrender. ST Knight responded to these demands and taunts by drowning them out with heavy application of fully automatic fire. Despite their resistance it was clear to them however that they needed to get out of there and quick. They were down to 3 combat-able men; 4 if they counted Dornan who despite being half-blinded by his injury could still aim and shoot with his one good eye. They were also starting to run low on ammunition and explosives.

With no other choice the team charged at the enemy, throwing grenades and firing off what remained of their 40mm grenades at the enemy and blowing a hole through the NVA ranks. Miraculously, it worked. They escaped through the smoke and carnage, dragging their wounded comrades and moved back towards the LZ with the NVA snapping at their heels. Unable to carry him, they were forced to leave Bao's corpse behind.

Alan set down claymores as they retreated back towards the LZ in order to buy them some time to escape. The jungle was rocked by explosions as the NVA triggered the mines, black smoke rising up into the sky.

When they finally arrived at the LZ, they nearly collapsed from exhaustion but picked themselves back up a minute later when they heard the sound of incoming rotor-blades. Two gunships flew over them followed by two slick Hueys which then circled around. The jungle below erupted with muzzle flashes as NVA infantry and anti-air fired at the choppers as they approached the LZ, green tracers filling the sky.

Covey told ST Knight to get their asses into the chopper as soon as it lands. They didn't need to be told twice. The lead Slick landed on the LZ, its gunner firing his M-60 into the jungle while ST Knight loaded their wounded comrades on board. The second Slick remained in the air circling around the LZ, waiting for its turn to land. Meanwhile, the two gunships that had escorted the bare Hueys were now busy pummeling the jungle surrounding the LZ with everything they got, providing cover for both the Slicks and ST Knight. They fired burst of 7.62mm from their miniguns before launching a salvo of rockets, forcing the communist troops to keep their heads down.

As soon as the leading Slick lifted off with its passengers, the second quickly landed. The remaining members of ST Knight quickly boarded the chopper and before they know it the chopper was lifting itself back up into the air. A sense of relief washed over Alan as he realized he was coming out of this alive. But that quickly went away when he saw smoke pouring out of the helicopter's single engine. Something was wrong. The engine warning lights lit up and an alarm began to sound. The engine had been hit and now it's on fire.

The Huey began to struggle to maintain altitude as the engine started to lose power. Smoke was everywhere and the fire from the engine was beginning to spread to the rest of the aircraft. Alan could barely see a thing through the thick black smoke. He felt the chopper began to lose altitude. As they plummeted from the sky, he heard the pilot yelling at them to brace for impact. Seconds later, they crashed into the hard ground and darkness overwhelmed him.

* * *

Chapter 2 is up and thanks for waiting, folks! This took a bit longer than I expected. Hope you guys like it.


End file.
